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EU Parliament President Martin Schulz and Germany's Justice Minister Heiko Maas both came out swinging against fake news on Sunday. In separate press interviews, the two German politicians discussed concrete plans to create laws banning platforms like Facebook from spreading fabricated stories presented as real news, something both men saw as harmful to democracy. "We need a systematic legal framework," Maas told the "Bild am Sonntag" newspaper. His ruling Christian Democrats (CDU) and coalition partners the Social Democrats (SPD) have already announced their intention to craft new legislation to stop the dissemination of fake news in January. Schulz: Solution should be European, not just national Martin Schulz offered a more concrete plan, saying that to combat the subversion of democracy that occurs when foreign interests create fake viral stories, "not only a national, but a European" solution was necessary. To that end, Schulz suggested that laws should target outlets … [Read more...] about German, EU politicians talk tough punishments for fake news

In light of the rise of fake news on social media, the German Interior Ministry has proposed the creation of a "Center of Defense Against Disinformation," according to a report on Friday from the German news magazine "Der Spiegel." Looking ahead to Germany's parliamentary elections next year, the creation of the center "should be negotiated very quickly," the magazine said, quoting a note from an Interior Ministry staff member. The Federal Press Office in the Chancellery is slated to take the lead in creating the defense center "since the focus is on public relations," the staff member wrote in the note. The press office, headed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman, Steffen Seibert, has over 500 employees. The note named specific groups that are particularly susceptible or vulnerable to fake news, including "Russian-Germans" and people with Turkish origins, the magazine reported. The ministry recommended that "an intensification of political education work" should be carried … [Read more...] about Germany plans creation of ‘center of defense’ against fake news, report says

Social Democratic Party (SPD) parliamentary chairman Thomas Oppermann singled out Facebook for particular criticism over the spread of fake news and hate messages. He called for tougher measures against the social media site. "Facebook did not avail itself of the opportunity to regulate the issue of complaint management itself," Oppermann told "Der Spiegel" magazine in an interview published on Friday. "Now market dominating platforms like Facebook will be legally required to build a legal protection office in Germany that is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year." This would allow victims of fake news and hate messages to contact the platform, prove that they have been targeted and asking for action to be taken. "If, after appropriate examination, Facebook does not delete the offending message within 24 hours, it should expect individual fines of up to 500,000 euros ($523,320)," Oppermann told the weekly magazine. Furthermore, at the request of the people … [Read more...] about 500,000 euro fines for fake news on Facebook in Germany?

The fight against so-called fake news has entered the next round: In an attempt to identify fictitious stories on its platform, Facebook announced a partnership on December 15th with fact checking sites including ABC News, PolitiFact, Snopes and The Associated Press. Facebook has been criticized for not doing more against the spread of fabricated news stories. Almost two in three US adults say such misinformation causes a great deal of confusion, according to a Pew Research Center poll. But where Facebook and others are just starting to take measures, German project Hoaxmap has been fighting fake news since February. Built by a two-person team, the interactive map displays instances of rumors and fake news about refugees or migrants and links them to news reports that debunk them. Since the portal launched, Karolin Schwarz and her co-founder have compiled 435 cases, ranging from harassment and arson to involuntary manslaughter. DW talked to … [Read more...] about German website took action against fake news long before Facebook

Incorrect news items are nothing new. For decades they've been distributed by nations and individuals and gobbled up by those given to conspiracy theories. But in 2016, "fake news" moved from the outer fringes to the mainstream. It influenced the US presidential election in November and nearly provoked a nuclear crisis between Israel and Pakistan. The term is even widely used now by extremists on one end of the political spectrum to describe news items favorable to their opponents on the other. It's a new war of information, and the goal is owning the truth. In the social media age, construed news stories spread much faster than before and appear authentic. It's a development that can even call cherished values of the Enlightenment into question and endanger democratic structures. We've selected a few of the most apparent examples in the year 2016. At Christmas came this shocker: "Britney Spears is dead!" The source was Sony Music Entertainment's official Twitter … [Read more...] about Fake news highlights – or lowlights – of the year

One indication of the sorry state of FIFA is the fact that almost everyone sees the circumstantial evidence produced by news magazine "Spiegel" as conclusive proof that Germany bribed Asian FIFA delegates to secure the 2006 World Cup. For the record, what "Spiegel" reported was that: 1) the organizing committee maintained a secret slush fund worth 6.7 million euros donated by an Adidas executive; 2) German football legend Franz Beckenbauer and current German Football Association President (DFB) Wolfgang Niersbach knew about the fund; 3) the DFB later paid FIFA a corresponding sum to underwrite cultural events that never took place, and the money subsequently disappeared; 4) other influential German football figures acknowledged in private, unconfirmed conversations that the money had been used for bribes. In another context such evidence might leave room for doubt that the World Cup was in some sense bought. Where FIFA is concerned, however, it would be naïve to assume that … [Read more...] about Slush fund revelation bad news for Germany, FIFA and football

READ THE UPDATE: German soldiers stationed in Lithuania have been the target of false rape claims, German news magazine "Der Spiegel" first reported on Thursday. NATO diplomats told "Spiegel" that they viewed this as an attack aimed at undermining the presence of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in eastern Europe, likely perpetrated by Russia. Emails claiming that German soldiers had raped an underage Lithuanian girl were sent to the president of the Lithuanian parliament and various Lithuanian media outlets on February 14. Lithuanian authorities investigated the charges and found no evidence that any of the claims made in the emails were true. "To our knowledge, Lithuanian police investigations came to the conclusion that there were neither a victim nor possible witnesses nor any perpetrators", a spokesperson for the German ministry of defense said. Some smaller local news outlets reported on the charges, according to Spiegel, but Lithuanian officials quickly … [Read more...] about NATO: Russia targeted German army with fake news campaign

"Ten years ago, we held the first Global Media Forum (GMF) here in Bonn - in what were relatively calm times," said DW's Director General, Peter Limbourg, in his opening address on Monday. That was before the financial crisis and the bloody collapse of large parts of the Arab world, before refugees started moving into Europe in large numbers, and before the war in Ukraine, he added. "Nationalism was but a fringe aspect, Donald Trump had a TV show but no nuclear missiles, and but a small minority was dreaming of a Brexit." Times today are more tumultuous, Limbourg said, and that "affects the work of journalists, and foreign broadcasters in particular." There is a direct correlation between the level of national oppression and the use of international broadcasters, the head of DW told the conference. "Broadcasters that are seen to be reliable are at an advantage." Credibility matters This year, the focus is on the digital future in the workplace, GMF Director Patrick Leusch said: … [Read more...] about Populism, ‘fake news’ set to dominate DW’s 10th Global Media Forum

Conspiracy theorists could have a field day with this one: The right-wing extremist National Socialist Underground (NSU) could have been a product of the German intelligence services. Reporting by a team of journalists working with Stefan Aust, editor-in-chief at the "Welt" newspaper, has revealed that two of the three alleged right-wing terrorists worked for a demolition company in Zwickau after supposedly having gone underground. It's without a doubt that from 2000 to 2002 Uwe Mundlos worked under a false name at the construction service company owned by neo-Nazi Ralf Marschner, according to the authors. As an informant, he was delivering information about the right-wing scene to the intelligence services. During the same period, the first five of ten racially motivated murders took place, for which the NSU claimed responsibility in a video. On the day of its revelation, November 4, 2011, the bodies of Uwe Mundlos and his accomplice, Uwe Böhnhardt, were discovered in a … [Read more...] about NSU: News from the informant front

After revelations that social media networks helped spread false and malicious information in the lead-up to the US presidential election, Chancellor Merkel is keen that the use of technology known as social bots is minimized in time for Germany's federal election next year. The chancellor has invited a data and software expert from the Technical University of Munich to brief the executive committee of her Christian Democrat party (CDU) on Monday about so-called social bots. The emerging software can mimic human behavior on social media sites by publishing messages or liking posts. It can be used to spread erroneous information and muddy the political debate. Manipulating the truth Simon Hegelich, a professor of political data science, is expected to warn MPs that technology could be used against established German parties, similar to how the proliferation of fake news helped sway the US election in President-elect Donald Trump's favor, as many analysts have claimed. In an … [Read more...] about German social bots expert to brief MPs on fake news threat